So, I've heard that PCs are "better equipped", "far more powerful", and is "just better" than the Game consoles. How is this so? What are the advantages PCs truly have over the consoles? Are their any reasons Consoles are better?

I've heard stories of how GPUs are far better in the PCs (Mainly because there hasn't been an update to the console group for over 6 years), but isn't it that when you buy high-end GPUs, you're really only buying the cooling system?

It would be nice to see some opinions in this thread, so we can debate on this subject.

_________________Man, I'm so stronk. By jumping up and down I can move the earth 1/1250000000000 the diameter of a hydrogen atom!

PC has the advantage (and also disadvantage) of not being locked to 1 set of hardware throughout it's lifespan. Don't like the performance of your game? You can fix that. With a console you just have to wait 6 years for the next console to come out. The disadvantage of this is that you get far less performance for the hardware you use: PS3+360 have only 1 set of hardware. Thus developers can code to make specific parts of the parts of the machines to do specific things, thus you get superior performance on your Console vs an equally powerful computer.

Secondly, (this is the main thing for me) Freedom. You can do whatever the hell you want to your games. Mods, mods mods. No mods? You can edit configuration files for similar effects. Don't like the music in a game? Replace it.

Sales. Seriously, sales. A PC may have a far higher entry cost, but if you play a lot of games, it turns out a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run. > http://steamdb.info/sales/ <And, well....you can "acquire" your games at 100% off if you're that kind of person.

Another note is that it is very handy to have a PC for multiple purposes. While the advent of smartphones and tablets this is less so, but PCs are very useful for browsing the web, typing up documents, doing up accounts, sending emails...... Admittedly the PS3 can technically send emails and browse the web, it's incredibly slow and annoying to do so.

You also don't have to pay to use online services. There is no Xbox gold fee, nor to-be-so PS4 mandatory PS+

Also, there are certain games you just don't get on a console. Free-to-play is very rare as of yet, and MOBA games like League of Legends and DOTA and Real-Time Strategy games are very rare and uncomfortable to play on a console. Furthermore, the Indie market is far more prevalent on PC, with games such as FTL which aren't available on consoles.

Once you get used to KeyBoard+Mouse FPS games are a far better experience on PC. I will never play an FPS with a controller ever again. I also prefer the use of a KB+M in most every game, including Batman:Arkham City, just as an example.

Overall, consoles and PC both have their own merits, but I far prefer PC for my own reasons.

Will add to post once I think of more reasons.

_________________Every other one of my Aliases: some variation on the word "Mahogany"

Consoles are basically computers. Except they are computers that at this point are 7 years old. There is no age limitation on computers, you can always upgrade whatever part if falling behind. Games on consoles also (generally speaking) can't be modded legally.

Console advantages is generally a bigger audience over the course of time, and cheaper overall.

I'm kinda on both sides, while PC has more games to play the equipment can get real expensive too, my bro had to shell out $300 for an extra hardive and cooling unit, whereas my laptop i paid $500 for it and it's honestly shit, but i can still get games on it

as for console they are considerably more cheaper and appeal to wider audiences, but lack exclusive content that PC's get credit for

look, to be fair i'm leaning a little more towards consoles but i still have a somewhat love for PC games

_________________"OK, the only way to get you to shut up is to let you talk, so go ahead. Enlighten me Dr. Phil."

So, it's a given that games run better on PCs, but what about the social part? I find it incredibly easy to send a friend request to another player, and then play games with them later on. is there an equivalent on PC?

What about console exclusive games, such as SSX? There is no way to run emulations of ps3 games, (as far as I know).

I do like the freedom aspect, but (stupidish question) do you find more problems on the PCs than consoles? I was always of the opinion, which may be wrong, that because of the differences of computer's hardware, you find errors and crash far more on PCs than on consoles.

About the cost, I looked up the games link, admittedly I didn't look too hard but there wasn't mention of the more popular console games (that I know have PC versions) on the list.

_________________Man, I'm so stronk. By jumping up and down I can move the earth 1/1250000000000 the diameter of a hydrogen atom!

So, it's a given that games run better on PCs, but what about the social part? I find it incredibly easy to send a friend request to another player, and then play games with them later on. is there an equivalent on PC?

well...yes and no . depends on what your processor is, i'm currently running on a Dell iCore4 processor, so at best I can play Left4Dead 2 on medium settings whereas older games like FlatOut 1 & 2 I can play perfectly on full settings, I can't get GTA IV working properly and TF 2 lags like shit when I play

as for the social aspect, i've found it a hell of a lot easier to makes friends on steam and there's not as many screaming 12 yr olds on steam than on consoles

i still like my XBL and PSN though.....

_________________"OK, the only way to get you to shut up is to let you talk, so go ahead. Enlighten me Dr. Phil."

So, it's a given that games run better on PCs, but what about the social part? I find it incredibly easy to send a friend request to another player, and then play games with them later on. is there an equivalent on PC?

Each game is treated differently unless you have a service such as steam, hamachi, etc. There is also the option of just IMing.

Quote:

What about console exclusive games, such as SSX? There is no way to run emulations of ps3 games, (as far as I know).

The same question could be flipped, what about all the PC exclusive games not available on console? What im trying to say is, that is a issue of personal choice. Like, its not a disadvantage that a banana tastes like a banana unless you REALLY wanted a apple.

Quote:

I do like the freedom aspect, but (stupidish question) do you find more problems on the PCs than consoles? I was always of the opinion, which may be wrong, that because of the differences of computer's hardware, you find errors and crash far more on PCs than on consoles.

Not a stupid question at all.

I want to say that because PC's change so often, there can be issues, but i feel like its a lot easier to play a game now than it was 10 years ago. You could probably google on how to put one together for gaming. It takes more patience than just sliding a disc in sometimes, and that is where i feel like the console wins at... being user friendly. Of course, now i feel like consoles are turning into shitty PCs with everyone trying to find ways to take more money from their customers, adding potential barriers between you and you just simply playing your game. But thats a whole different story set in the future.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but, are you thinking about getting a PC?

My opinions:

Well I have both PS3 and a modern gaming PC.

Yes, my PC is definitely more powerful than my PS3. When I am playing some of my PS3 games, sometimes I feel like it's about to explode under the pressure of the graphics! I felt this especially with Need for Speed: Most Wanted. And that game did crash sometimes. But my PS3 was making loud noises and I was surprised and impressed that it could handle it! But yeah it seemed like it was barely able to! This worries me a bit about GTA5 coming out soon, as I sure as hell want to play that on my PS3, I just hope my PS3 can handle it! My PC though, it never feels like it can't handle anything. It seems as though every game is beneath it. I was playing that mmo Planetside 2 earlier in the year, and boy, was that graphically demanding! Hundreds of players on screen at once, gigantic battles raging on... my PC handles it all like a champ.

As for the community, it really depends what games you play on PC. But overall I find it's a lot easier to communicate with people in PC games. Everyone has their keyboard at their fingertips. You can type to people on the fly during FPS games. PS3 you just add friends and occasionally send the odd message and the most I got out of it was in the early days of SSX when I took my keyboard out of my PC and plugged it into my PS3 to chat with the guys in chatrooms while we were playing SSX. But it's still a lot slower because you have to go into the Playstation menu first before you can write. Certainly not going to be chatting to anybody mid run. On both platforms some gamers choose to use a microphone to communicate, and this is the best way on console, and in a public setting more prominent on consoles. Trouble is though, you get a lot of idiots that are just going out of their way to irritate everyone, and of course not everyone is using a mic. Wheras on PC everyone has their keyboard and chatting.

The two feel very different for gaming. As Salariedcat mentioned. PC is the home of FPS games. The PC has a much bigger history than consoles for FPS games and there is a much larger number of games to choose from. Literally hundreds. Wheras on console you're basically limited to CoD and Battlefield. Another genre I would hand to PC is RTS like Starcraft and as Salariedcat mentioned, Moba games like League of Legends and of course MMORPG games like World of Warcraft. Consoles hold the crown for racing games, fighting games and action adventure games like Assassins Creed, Dead Space, Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid and Uncharted. That's not to say there aren't any good games on PC like this, for example the Theif series, but generally there are more games like this on the console.

As for crashes, my PS3 crashes more often than my PC. To be honest I cannot think of a single time in the past 3 years that my PC has crashed. My PS3 has crashed as mentioned earlier playing Most Wanted, and it's also I fear, coming to the end of it's life, as sometimes now it doesn't turn on. The light goes green for a couple seconds, then "beep beep beep" and the light goes red again. Sometimes it takes me up to 20 attempts just to turn my PS3 on. I am VERY eager for PS4 to come out so I can dump this old thing!

Certainly if you haven't before and are thinking of looking into the PC gaming scene, it's a whole new world of adventure waiting to be explored... just be warned, you can easilly get sucked into it; PC gaming is very addictive.

Final piece of advice: If it's gaming you're interested in. Go with a desktop over a laptop. Laptop might be preferred if you're on the move a lot, but otherwise desktop desktop desktop. My best friend got a top of the range Alienware laptop at the same time I got my desktop. Playing on his Alienware compared to playing on my desktop is like night and day. It feels cramped on the Laptop and the screen is smaller. After using his laptop I'm overwhelmed by how massive my screen seems. And I have a gaming mechanical keyboard. His Laptop has fallen behind where my Desktop has been easy to upgrade and over time has lasted longer. No matter how good hardware you put into a laptop, it's still tightly squeezed into that tiny case. A couple years down the line, his Laptop just doesn't perform anymore.

I am a technological illiterate, so I cannot provide a logical reason as to why a PC is more preferable to a console, or vice-versa. I also cannot rationally enunciate why controllers should be thought superior to computer keys. (To some persons, the inverse statement is true.) From an argumentative standpoint, both perspectives are clad in variability, and, henceforth, subject to individual whim. However, having reading the comments posted thus far, I feel as if persons place undue weight on the either / or operator in making their opinions on these issues manifest. For instance, it can be inferentially gathered that posters either enjoy PC's or consoles, keyboards or controllers. And, while it is true that I prefer consoles and controllers to PC's and computer keys, that is just my subjective choice. Hence, I feel that there is no right or wrong issue on this matter--this constitutes the relativistic portion of the debate. Nevertheless, in addition to the relativistic portion of the debate, there is an absolute segment to it, too. I will list the combinations below.

1. X prefers a PC to a console.2. X values a console over a PC.3. X likes PC's and consoles commensurately.4. X is more comfortable using a keyboard than a controller.5. X enjoys using controllers over keyboards.6. X does not care whether he or she is operating a keyboard or controller.

Hence, the argument above is unlimited in the sense that every person will present a different case, but limited in the sense that, in the PC versus console part of the debate, Merqury City members will articulate one of the first three arguments, and, in the portion which weighs the effectiveness of controllers against that of keyboards, will select the last three items.

Been a console gamer since I was a kid. I have recently decided (though I have been meaning to do so for the past 11 years) to buy parts for my first gaming rig.

Reasons:

- Console games are locked to 30fps. I didn't think this was much of a problem until I played in 60+ fps on a friends PC. - I want 1080p native, and 4k in the future. - Steam, the convenience of having my games on HDD. The price of the games are cheaper than console. Sales actually feel like sales. - Curious about using the mouse for accuracy. Though I can use an xbox one controller if I want (probably will with a lot of games). - No extra costs to play online. - Ability to mod the games I own. Something that just isn't available on console. - I like having everything I need in one machine, from work, internet, gaming, etc. - I can emulate consoles of the past, play all the games I've owned before.

At this point, the only reason I can see as to why someone would have a console is exclusives. I can't see any other reason why anyone would own one if they didn't care for exclusive games (or have family members they want to play with).

The reason consoles last as long as they do is that the hardware never changes in them, and so devs can optimise their games to get the most out of the hardware.

One thing I can say is to play a nice free game called Osu!. Yes, I'm plugging it everywhere, but it'd probably be a good way to become accustomed to a mouse. That, or get TF2 and play Scout/Sniper/Soldier a lot.

Also, even if you don't have your computer ready yet, be sure to make a Steam account and pick up some games from the Winter Sale! It's ending soon, and it might be a way to jumpstart your library.

_________________Every other one of my Aliases: some variation on the word "Mahogany"

Thanks for the suggestions! Can't seem to find a game called Osu on the steam store?

I have a steam account which I opened back in 2011, though I've never had a PC good enough to really use it. I've purchased a few games (about 10) during the recent sales. TF2 is among them, been wanting to play it on PC for so long.

Should be ordering my CPU, HDD, and PSU on monday, I'll only ever play console for exclusives from then on (or if I jump on ssx).

Add me on steam, I have only 4 friends on there at the moment it feels a bit empty: Nuantik

Anyways, I've added you, Morf, and gondee...I THINK I've added you, but I couldn't find a "gondeessx", only someone called Gondee with the custom URL of "gondeessx", hopefully I got it right. My Steam name is "HeBr | Mahogany"

...that is, if steam decides to start working. I'm being forced to use the steam community website right now and it's all in German.

_________________Every other one of my Aliases: some variation on the word "Mahogany"

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